Acknowledging the absence of laughter in the tent pitched on Gracie Mansion’s lawn, the Jewish mayor tried a few more from his script before shifting topics and talking about the recent occurrence of Jerusalem Day, the anniversary of Israel’s capture of the Old City of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War. Except Bloomberg said it happened in 1987. – JTA
Category Archives: News
FRIENDS: Iran Navy Helps U.S. Ship Attacked by Pirates
Posted
on 05/23/2012
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Bloomberg Reports: Iran’s navy helped a U.S.-flagged cargo ship that was attacked by pirates off the United Arab Emirates, according to the vessel’s owner, Maersk Line Ltd. The Iranian navy was the first to respond to the initial distress call from the Maersk Texas, Kevin Speers, senior director of marketing at Maersk Line, said by phone today. The vessel was attacked by several skiffs and armed guards on board returned fire, the company said in an earlier statement. Read more »
PHOTOSHOPPING Jewish Congressman Suggests All Publicity is Good Publicity
Posted
on 05/23/2012
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Hawaii Sends Arizona Verification of Obama’s Birth
Posted
on 05/23/2012
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Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett said Tuesday night that he has received information from Hawaii that proves President Obama’s American birth and satisfies Arizona’s requirements for having the president on the upcoming election ballot. Bennett said the issue is now resolved from his point of view. He has cancelled a planned Wednesday news conference where he was expected to discuss the issue. – AZ Central H/T Drudge Report.
POLL: 40% Say Trayvon Shot in Self-Defense; Less Than Half Blacks Say It’s Murder
Posted by Yossi Gestetner
on 05/23/2012
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A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 24% of American Adults still believe the man who shot Martin should be found guilty of murder. But that’s down from 33% in late March when the case first began to draw national headlines… Forty percent (40%) now think George Zimmerman acted in self-defense. That’s up 25 points from 15% in March… Thirty-six percent (36%) remain undecided, compared to 55% two months ago… Interestingly, 47% of black adults still feel Zimmerman should be found guilty of murdering the black teenager, compared to 55% in March. Now nearly as many blacks (40%) think Zimmerman acted in self-defense. – Rasmussen
KY, AR Primary Results: Romney Gets More Among GOP Than Obama Among Dems
Posted
on 05/23/2012
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In Kentucky, Romney, who is expected to clinch the nomination after the Texas primary on May 29, received a higher percentage of the vote in the Republican presidential primary than Obama received in the Democratic presidential primary. With 99.9 percent of precincts reporting, Romney had 67 percent of the vote, while Obama had 58 percent – compared to “uncommitted,” which received 42 percent, according to The Associated Press. In Arkansas, results are still in the early stages of being counted, but with 33 percent of precincts reporting, Obama has 61.5 percent of the vote, and his Democratic challenger, John Wolfe, a lawyer from Tennessee, has 38.5 percent. Romney, comparatively, has received 69.5 percent of the vote, the AP reported. ABC News Via Yahoo
NJ9 – Shmuley Boteach: ‘Cory Booker Is My Brother’
Posted
on 05/23/2012
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Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
Politicker Reports: In the aftermath of the flap over Mr. Booker’s comments about the Obama campaign’s attacks on Mitt Romney’s time at Bain Capital, Mr. Boteach wrote an op-ed in the Jewish newspaper Algemeiner criticizing anyone who would try to score points off the Bain brouhaha. He also included a shot against his probably opponents in New Jersey’s 9th congressional district.
Mr. Boteach began his column on an apolitical note.
“For a moment, let me remove my hat as a Republican candidate for public office and speak only wearing my yarmulke, as a Rabbi who has known Cory for twenty years and has had the blessing throughout that time of an intimate, brotherly friendship,” he wrote. ”Cory is my brother. We are on different sides of the political spectrum. He is a proud and staunch Democrat. But few people have taught me more about being a good person than Cory.”
BORED: Obama Does Not Talk to, Call Senior Lawmakers
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on 05/22/2012
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He doesn’t call. He doesn’t write. He doesn’t drop by for a visit. That’s what some of the most senior Democrats in Congress are experiencing from President Barack Obama these days. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) is trying to cut a deal on the nation’s fiscal crisis, but he can’t recall the last time he talked to the president. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) is in charge of one of Obama’s top priorities — preventing a rate increase on student loans — but he hasn’t talked to the president in months. And Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) is the go-to guy on high gas prices, but the chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee hasn’t spoken to the president much since the previous Congress. – Politico
UPDATE: Jewish Female Reporter Disguised as Male at Citifield, Gives Interview
Posted
on 05/22/2012
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In an interview earlier today, I asked her what motivated her to take the risk for the fist time to go undercover and attend this event for the Observer?. “I was personally curious,” she said. “I have gone places where I wasn’t supposed to be and attended events under false pretenses, but I don’t think I have never gone undercover in disguise before. I was definitely nervous.” In order to avoid confrontation or be recognized before the event was over, Jeffries says, she tried convincingly to avoid getting into conversationsby looking down at the ground, giving one-word answers and keeping her face in her phone, pretending to speak to a voiceless entertainer. Read More by Jacob Kornbluh
(Related: PHOTO: The Female Reporter Disguised as a Male Before Going to CitiField Asifa)
Memo from Obama Campaign to Black Surrogates: Shut Up!
Posted by Yossi Gestetner
on 05/22/2012
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Jersey City Mayor Cory Booker, an African American, attacked president Obama’s campaign Sunday for criticizing Mitt Romney’s record at Bain. Within hours, Booker walked it back after lead people in the Obama Campaign ripped him for not toeing the Party Line.
After seeing that disagreeing with Obama in public did not work for Booker, Congressmen James Clyburn an African American and the number three House Democrat, went fully the other way saying that Bain was “raping companies” to earn a profit. Within hours, the Obama campaign said the statement was “inappropriate.”
In other words, the overwhelmingly White team of Democrats at Obama’s HQ is signaling to Black lawmakers that they should just shut up! Whether you want to back Obama, whether you want to show some independence, you should hold your should just shut the hell up!
Brookyln – In Video, State Senator Golden Explains Kletzky Camera Program
Posted
on 05/22/2012
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CTSen Exclusive: Lumaj to Drop Out, Endorse Later This Week
Posted by Yossi Gestetner
on 05/22/2012
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Peter Lumaj, one of the Republicans running for a U.S. Senate seat in Connecticut, plans on dropping out of the race later this week after failing to win the minimum 15% support from GOP Convention delegates last Friday Night. Securing the fifteen percent would mean a slot on the Primary Ballot without needing to collect 10K petitions.
Sources familiar with the plans tell Gestetner Updates that the candidate will likely make an endorsement before the weekend. Whether he will support Chris Shays or Linda McMahon for the August GOP Primary, is anyone’s guess.
The contest is for the seat being vacated by Joseph Lieberman.
Report: Berman Beats Sherman in L.A. Race for Dollars
Posted
on 05/22/2012
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The Forward Reports: It’s the battle that has confronted pro-Israel donors nationwide with a choice they hate: having to decide between two staunchly pro-Israel congressional incumbents with whom many have long, supportive relationships. But one way or another, pro-Israel donors have come down firmly on the side of Democratic Rep. Howard Berman in his death match against Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman in California’s San Fernando Valley.
The battle between the two pro-Israel Jewish Democrats is a result of a redistricting decision that placed both sitting congressman in California’s newly drawn 30th District, which combines two San Fernando Valley congressional districts.
PHOTO: Potential ‘Super Jewish District’ Rivals Storobrin, Caller Meet
Posted
on 05/22/2012
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PHOTO: The Female Reporter Disguised as a Male Before Going to CitiField Asifa
Posted
on 05/22/2012
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HARD LINE: Cardinal Dolan Files TWELVE Federal Lawsuits Vs Os HCR
Posted
on 05/22/2012
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NYDN Reports: Timothy Cardinal Dolan is turning to a higher power to squash President Obama’s mandate that religious employers provide workers with birth control coverage.
Dolan led 43 Catholic institutions across the country in filing 12 federal lawsuits to spike the Obama administration’s requirement — and he’s prepared to battle “all the way [to the Supreme Court] if we have to,” his spokesman Joseph Zwilling said.
“This is fundamental,” Zwilling added. “It’s not a Catholic issue. It’s not really a religious issue. It’s an American issue.”
Catholic leaders are apoplectic the contraception rule will take effect as scheduled on Aug. 1.
“Time is running out, and our precious ministries and fundamental rights hang in the balance, so we have to resort to the courts now,” Dolan said.
BROOKLYN – Judge Urges Jews to Report Abuses as he Sentences Criminal to 20 Years
Posted
on 05/22/2012
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BROOKLYN JUDGE urged members of the tightly guarded Orthodox Jewish community to report sex abuse as he sentenced a man who preyed on their children to 20 years to life in prison. “There is a duty for all adults to protect our children,” Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Vincent Del Giudice said Monday. “And the only way they can be protected is if they cooperate with law enforcement.” Read more »
PLAY MONEY: Secret European Central Bank (ECB) Aid Props Up Greece
Posted
on 05/22/2012
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FT Via CNBC Reports: There has been no official announcement. No terms or conditions have been disclosed. But Greece’s banking system is being propped up by an estimated €100 billion or so of emergency liquidity provided by the country’s central bank — approved secretly by the European Central Bank in Frankfurt. If Greece were to leave the eurozone, the immediate cause might be an ECB decision to pull the plug.
Extensive use of “emergency liquidity assistance” (ELA) to help banks in the weakest economies has been one of the less-noticed features of the eurozone crisis. Separate from normal supplies of liquidity and meant originally as a temporary facility for national authorities to use when banks hit problems, ELA proved a lifesaver for the financial system Ireland and is now even more so in Greece. As such, it has given the ECB — which has ultimate control over the facility — considerable power to determine countries’ fates.
Senate Adopts Tougher Iran Sanctions
Posted
on 05/22/2012
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After a public spat last week, Senate Democrats and Republicans reached a deal Monday and unanimously passed tougher economic sanctions aimed at deterring Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The legislation still needs to be reconciled with a version passed by the House last December. But the Senate’s action sends a forceful word to Tehran just days before six world powers hold talks with Iran in Baghdad to discuss the country’s nuclear program. – Politico
CT – Brian K. Hill to Decide Next Step As Shays Files Papers to Force McMahon into CTSen Primary
Posted by Yossi Gestetner
on 05/21/2012
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The GOP Party in Connecticut held its convention days ago where 60% delegates voted for Linda McMahon while 32% voted for Chris Shays. This means both will automatically appear on the Primary Ballot by simply filing some papers. However, because the other candidates didn’t receive the minimum 15% delegates, their option is to petition their way on to the ballot. Read more »
Assemblyman Hikind, Mrs. Ostreicher Meet with Federal Lawmakers to Advocate for Jacob
Posted by Yossi Gestetner
on 05/21/2012
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A few weeks ago, NY Assemblyman Dov Hikind helped to rally hundreds of people in Manhattan to support Jacob Ostreicher, the Jewish American arrested in Bolivia since last year early June. In recent days, Hikind is pushing the cylinders of elected officials in the Federal Government to do all they can to help the Brooklyn native.
On early Sunday morning, Mr. Hikind and Miriam Ostreicher, the wife of Jacob, met with New York U.S. Senator Gillibrand who days earlier penned a letter to the top Bolivian representative in the United States on behalf of Ostreicher. Read more »
David Lobl on the Rising 40-Under-40 List
Posted
on 05/21/2012
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On this year’s 40-under-40 rising political stars list is David Lobl. Here is the profile of him:
DAVID LOBL; Age: 27; Director of Public and Government Affairs, Human Care Services
New York’s Orthodox Jews are on the rise, flexing their political muscles and providing the margin of victory for a number of candidates in recent elections. David Lobl is often at the center of that activity, helping craft messages and coordinate resources for his community. But Lobl is no local boy. He grew up on the North Side of Chicago, where he cut his teeth working for Rep. Judy Biggert, whom he still considers his “political godmother.” Read more »
Female Writer Disguised as Male Reports Her Experience From INSIDE Citifield
Posted
on 05/21/2012
3 comments
Adrianna Jeffries Writes at the Betabeat: On Sunday, 40,000 mostly Hasidic Jewish men in black hats and black suits gathered at Citi Field for a series of speeches concerning the corrupting influence of the Internet. The talks were broadcast to the JumboTron, betwixt the oversized bottles of Cholula censored with a white cloth over the label, which shows a woman.
The 7 train from Grand Central had become packed with men in black, all in a fine mood, before we poured out at the Mets-Willets Point train station like kids on a field trip. Now there were all kinds of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men in the stadium: fat, skinny, young, old, short, tall, with glasses, without beards, wearing watches, smoking cigarettes, talking on cellphones. “Hats off! Hats off!” the ticket-takers barked as the throng of yidden crowded around the entrance to left field. Jewish Reporter, one of the few media outlets approved by the organizers, said on Twitter that it was one of the biggest crowds the stadium had ever seen.
Yes, the stadium was full of men, and the women’s bathrooms were reportedly locked. Yet there were at least three females present: a ticket-taker, an usher, and me, in a pair of $15 Payless loafers, my brother’s dress clothes, and a donated kippah. Oh, and the white duct tape around my chest, G.I. Jane style. Read more »
Israel – Tal Committee Starts Working on Solution
Posted
on 05/21/2012
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The Committee for advancing equality and sharing burdens will meet for the first time Tuesday, Army Radio reported. The committee’s purpose is to find an alternative to the Tal Law. The committee is chaired by Kadima MK Yohanan Plesner, who along with the rest of Kadima, recently joined the coalition, purportedly with the primary goal of formulating a solution to integrating haredim into the military and national service, in accordance with a ruling of the High Court. – JPost
WARNING: Cameron Tells Greece Buy Into Austerity or Get Out of Eurozone!
Posted
on 05/21/2012
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David Cameron has issued his bluntest warning yet to Greece that voters need to “meet their commitments” as a member of the eurozone in elections next month or leave the currency union.
Speaking at the Nato summit in Chicago, and three days before a crucial EU meeting, the Prime Minister said the leaders of the eurozone must now prepare for either outcome and be ready for the repercussions of the Greek vote, set for 17 June. The poll was called after Greek parties failed to form a new government earlier this month. Read more »
